William james



(No Model.)

W. J AMES'. HARNESS MACHINE.

No. 443,678. Patented Dec. 30, 1890. A

NIT-ED STATES PATENT- FFICE.

\VILLIAM JAMES, OF ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

HARNESS*MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,678, dated December 30, 1890.

Application filed September 13, 1890. Serial EJ364347. (No model.)

To all whom itmcty concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JAMES, of the city of Adelaide, in the Colony of South Australia, Australia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trace-Trimmers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in trace-trimming machines, in which a pair of trimming-knives for trimming the opposite edges of the trace upon one side are held yieldingly in contact with the trace While a pair er stationaryknives are in contact with the opposite edges of the other side of the trace, so that by a single passage of the trace between the knives its opposite edges upon both sides will be completely trimmed.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view of the machine in vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a view in transverse section through the lines: a: of Fig.

1. Fig. 3 is a plan view, and Fig. 4 is a par-- tial horizontal section through line y y of Fig. 2.

A represents the bed=frame of the machine, which is conveniently provided with legs a, the latter having perforations a therethrough for receiving fastening devices to secure the bed-frame in position where it is desired to use it. The upper portion of the bed-frame is provided with an elongated slot B, on either side of which the top of the frameis smoothed, and forms ways for the reception of a sliding knife-carrying frame 0. The knife-carrying frame 0 is provided with an upright portion cand with a horizontally-extended base portion 0, the under side of the latter being fitted to rest upon the top of the bed-frame. The base portion 0' is further provided with lips 0 one of which is adjustable, which are constructed to take under the outer edges 61, of the top of the bed-frame to prevent the said knife-carryin g frame from displacement.

The said knife-carrying frame is provided on its inner face and on one side with a curvebladed knife D, the cutting-edge of which is located in proximity to the top of the bedframe in position to engage the corner of the trace upon. its lower side and outer edge, and

therebyround it off. The upright portion 0 of the sliding frame 0 is provided with an elongated slot cl, opposite the seat in which the shank of the knife D is located, through which slot a binding-screw cl extends into the shank of the knife, thereby permitting the saidknife to be adjusted vertically to cut deeper or shallower, or for purposes of ole-- vating the knife in case its edge shall have become worn by use or grinding. The central 6o portion of the upright portion 0 of the frame is provided on its inner face with a vertical dovetailed groove E, in which a slidingknifecarrying plate or bar F is located so as to move up and down with an easy sliding fit.

For the purpose of taking up any wear which may be occasioned by the friction of the sliding plate F in its groove, I form one side of the groove by means of an adjustable cheek e, which may be moved toward and away from the sliding plate by means of setscrews a, seated in the edge of the upright portion of the sliding frame 0 and bearing against said check. The said check is held against displacement away from the face of the upright portion a by means of screws e which extend through transversely-elongated openings 6 in the upright portion a and engage threaded perforations in the said check.

The sliding plate F 1s provided at its lower end with a seat for the reception of the shank of a curve-bladed knife D, the blade of which is curved in the opposite direction from that of the knife D, hereinbefore referred to, for the purpose of engaging the corner of the 85. trace upon the upper side and at the edge of the trace corresponding with the edge which the knife D engages. The lower portion of the plate F is provided with an elongated slot f, opposite the seat which receives the 0 shank of the knife, through which a bindingscrew f extends into a threaded perforation in the shank of the knife for the purpose of adjusting the said knife up and down relatively to its guard for determining the depth of its out.

The said sliding plate F is further provided with a curve-faced guard f projecting inwardly from its inner face and having its lower side in proximity to the cutting-edge too of the knife to prevent the said knife from cutting too deeply into the trace. I have here shown the said guard of cylindrical form.

At points behind the cutting'bladcs of the knives D and D the said sliding frame is cut away, as shown at G and G, for the purpose of affording a free passage for the chips or shavings of leather which maybe severed from the traces.

The sliding plate 1 is held normally in a depressed position under the tension of a spring ll, one end of which is secured to the upright portion of the sliding frame, as shown at h, and the other to a projection 7i upon the beds of said sliding plate. The form of spring which I find it convenient to employ is that shown in the drawings; and it consists of a spring formed of wire coiled at its middle portion and having one of its arms engaging with the sliding frame and the other with the knife-carrying plate.

A sliding frame (3, quite similar in all rel spects to the sliding frame 0 hereinbefore described, with the exception of its extended base portion a, is provided with averticallysliding knife-carrying plate and with a stationary knife in a manner quite similar to that shown and described with respect to the sliding knife-carrying plate and stationary knife hereinbefore referred to, and is substantially a duplicate of the parts hereinbcfore described for effecting the trimming of the upper and lower corners at one edge of the trace. The frame C, however, is fixed to the bed-frame. F or the purpose of adjusting the space between the cutters to suit traces of varying widths, the sliding frame 0 is provided with means for adjusting it toward and away from the frame C. The means which I have herein shown for this purpose consist of an adjusting-screw I, secured against longitudinal movement in a suitable bearing K, attached to the bed-frame and allowed a free rotary movement in the said hearing. The adjustable screw engages with a threaded socket in the base portion 0' of the sliding frame G, and by means of said engagement causes the frame 0 to slide toward and away from the frame 0' as the screw is turned in opposite directions.

It is intended that when in action the upper knives D shall rest in contact with the upper face of the leather and be held in such position in a yielding manner under the tension of the springs H. For the purpose of lifting said knives out of engagement with the leather or placing them in a position to insert the end of a trace, I provide a rockshaft L, supported in suitable bearings near the base of the bed-frame, and having secured to one of its ends, in convenient posi tion for the operatorto grasp, a lever Zfor operating it. To the said shaft L, I secure an elongated cam 31, which, when the shaft T, is

rocked in one direction, engages the lower ends of the sliding knife-carrying plates l and lifts them sutliciently far to carry the cutting-edges of the knives above the upper surface of the trace. The said cam preferably consists of an eccentric rounding-faced plate, which, when the knife-carrying plates are elevated sufficiently far,brin gs the point of contact with the said knife-carrying plates with the cam in alignment with the axis of the shaft L and the direction of movement of the sliding, plates, and thereby locks them in elevated adjustment until the said shaft L shall be rocked in the opposite direction to lower them into position 011 the material, to be worked.

The machine is operated by adjusting the plate 0 toward and away from the plate 0 to correspond to the width of the trace to be operated upon. The upper knives are then elevated by means of the shaftL and the cam thereon. The end of the trace is then in sertod upon the top of the bed-plate, above the lower knives and beneath the upper knives, and the upper knives are then al lowed to fall and rest upon the upper surface of the plate. The trace is then pulled through between the knives transversely of the bed plate, and while being so drawn through its opposite edges upon both sides will be trimmed as desired.

It is evident that other well-known means of adjustment than the screw here shown might be resorted to to fix the sliding plate at the proper distance from the fixed plate, and that other forms of cams than the one here shown might be employed for simul- .taneously lifting the knives, and that numerous slight changes might be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scopeof my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a bed-frame and knife-su pportin g frames, one fixed to the bed frame and the other adjustable along the said frame, and means for securing the adjustable frame against yielding, of a pair of knife-supporting plates arranged to slide independently of each other in the opposite faces of the knife'supporting frames, one in each, springs tending to hold the plates normally toward the position of the material be ing operated upon, knives secured to said plates for operating upon one side of a strip of material, knives fixed to the frames for working upon the opposite side of the material, and means for elevating the said knifecarrying plates against the tension of the springs, substantially asset forth.

' 2. The combination, with a bed-frame and the knife-carrying frames, one fixed thereto and the other adjustable in respect thereto, and means for preventing a yielding moVement of the adjustable frame, of a pair of vertically-inovable knife-carrying plates indeing said knife-carrying plates against the pendent of each other, springs tending to tension of the springs, substantially as set throw the said plates normally in one direcforth.

tion toward the material to be operated upon, \VILLIAM JAMES. knives adj ustably secured to said plates, \Vitnesses: guards secured to said plates in proximity to FREDK. HAYNES,

the edges of said knives, and means for mov- GEORGE BAR-RY. 

